Notions of objectivity and journalistic ethics are subject-matters I am passionate about. Because of the limitation of space, last week’s ...
Notions of objectivity and journalistic
ethics are subject-matters I am passionate about. Because of the limitation of
space, last week’s column didn’t capture the entire range of my thoughts on
these issues. For instance, I didn’t point out that the broadcast media are
guided by different legal and regulatory requirements from the print media
because the broadcast spectrum is a public property held in trust for everyone
by the government. In the coming weeks I will write a sequel to last week’s
article in the interest of media literacy. Meanwhile enjoy a sample of the
thoughts readers shared with me.
A
very insightful and enlightening piece as usual. Talking about journalism
ethics, you explained that, "unlike ethics in law and medicine, they are
entirely voluntary. They have no force of authority and can be flouted without
any legal consequences." That may be so but ethics like ACCURACY,
OBJECTIVITY AND FAIRNESS, are not exactly voluntary in broadcasting as they do
have legal backing. Any broadcast station that flouts them can, as a matter of
fact, be sanctioned. There are sections in the Nigeria Broadcasting Code that
guarantee sanctions against any broadcast station that breaches the provisions
on the three ethics given above, e.g. section 3.3.1. Which says, "Any
information given in a programme, in whatever form, shall be presented
accurately". Consider also the following sections: 3.3.2. "A
broadcaster shall acknowledge his or her own inherent biases and prejudices,
and transparently rise above subjective mindset". And 3.3.3. "All
sides to any issue of public interest shall be equitably presented to ensure
fairness and balance". See also 3.1.1. "All programmes shall adhere
to the general principles of legality, decency and truthfulness, in addition to
the specific guidelines for their genre". And 3.1.3. "The broadcaster
shall recognize expression as an agent of society, therefore, he shall not use
his medium for any personal or sectional rights, privileges and needs of his
own, proprietor, relatives, friends or supporters".
A
breach of any of the above sections of the code will be regarded as an
invitation to class 'B' sanction, which can be subject to a heavy fine, among
others. There are also provisions for other ethics such as Integrity,
Authenticity, Good Taste and Decency as well as Morality and Social Values. All
these and more are treated in a whole chapter called General Programming
Standard.
Ahmed Abdulkadir
Many
thanks to you for your column today. Your write-up has proved my position on an
argument with a friend that your writings are subjective. You don’t allow GEJ's
mind to rest even after his failure at the polls and GMB’s success. I told him
that you are an objective analyst and whenever GMB errs you will say it. I
predicted your column today and asked him to check and get back to me. He just
called 5 minutes ago and said yes my position is correct. I told him that Prof
being a media child and Professor in the field, it will be an interesting topic
to discuss. Thank you for this. Am smiling as I comment on this topic.
Auwal Gambo Ya'u
I've
garnered a lot from this article as a student of journalism. But, with due
respect, I have my reservation about the issue of objectivity. I think the type
of journalism where objectivity is lacking is not healthy for our system which
is characterized by so much heterogeneity. Even if objectivity was never a part
of journalism, now that it is, it has shown to be a utilitarian force in the
stabilization of the polity. In a country like ours, objectivity is crucial to
the survival of both journalism and the state.
Àmà Usman Mohammed
Return
to roots, indeed. In this case, can't any action be taken against the media,
AIT in this context? Can't, or shouldn't, GMB file a libel case, for instance?
I really don't want them to go scot-free after all that they have done. I also
condemned their "banning" but not in its entirety. And lest people
don't know, or forget, GEJ repressed media especially on the eve of the general
election. So many foreign journalists were silently denied visa to cover the
March 28th elections, including the famous UK-based Guardian. Worse still, Al
Jazeera staff, Ahmed Idris and one Mustapha, were detained for several days,
disallowing them to cover the elections, in Maiduguri. Why were almost all the
critics of AIT's "ban" silent then?
Muhsin Ibrahim
The
truth is what is politically correct, most times is not necessarily right. If
someone said that about me, I owe the duty to myself to run him out business.
Whether by suing you or barring from me, there must be consequence. What I
cannot tolerate, I would never expect of others to tolerate. If Buhari is to
succeed, he can't afford to be perfect. This AIT matter calls for someone to be
made example of. There's no such thing as perfect press freedom, I don't
subscribe to it. In electronics, pure semi-conductor is a useless piece of
material, but introduce some impurities in a controlled process known as
doping, then you have transistor - which is responsible for all the exciting
things we see in the world of electronics. The thing is, little imperfection
makes things exciting.
Kalu Akaraka Friday
I
think this article has offered us another lesson. The lesson of forgiveness and
fairness will certainly help us in our quest to build a virile nation. In Chapter
24 Verse 23 of
the Qur'an, Allah says, ''And let not those who possess wealth and plenty among
you swear not to give aught (any part) to the kindred and to the needy and to
those who have left their homes in the cause of Allah. Let them forgive and
pass over the offence. Do you not desire that Allah should forgive you? And
Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful.” We can deduce from this verse that everyone
has his/her shortcomings and will be happy if those shortcomings are forgiven.
Accordingly, we should learn to forgive those that offended us so that love and
peace shall reign in our land. I will personally advise the president - elect
to champion the course of justice, fairness cum forgiveness and focus on the
arduous task of re-building Nigeria of our dream - the Nigeria that un-born
generations will be proud of. Let him prove his critics wrong by refusing to be
a vendetta. Finally, the press should be fair and have a posture of
indifference in their reporting of events. God Bless Nigeria
Tijjani Abubakar
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